Oscars gazump the Globes

The Oscars may not theoretically be all about winning, but they do want to come first.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed on Tuesday that the nominees for the forthcoming Oscar awards will be announced five days earlier than normal, and three days before the Golden Globes ceremony.

"In an effort to provide members and the public a longer period of time to see the nominated films, the Academy will reveal the 85th Academy Awards nominations on January 10," said in a statement.

Despite this explanation, the move is seen as being primarily about the Golden Globes, ensuring that there can be no suggestion that the Globes winners influence the nominations. This is despite the fact that Oscars nominations voting closes a full week prior to the announcement date, and historically always before the Globes.

The timing of the announcement is also likely to upstage the Globes event, though it is yet to be seen whether this will diminish or strengthen the Globes status as an Oscars indicator. The Globes are voted on by the relatively small group of journalists in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and is traditionally less of an arbiter of Academy tastes than the individual guild awards.

The Oscars nominations announcement is a vastly different event to the awards ceremonies themselves. Notionally described as a breakfast, the nominations are announced at 5:30 am Los Angeles time at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater, a timing designed to maximise coverage on the breakfast television programs filmed out of New York.

The Academy Awards are scheduled to be held on February 24 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where the ceremony has been held for a decade with more than 6,000 members of the academy due to cast their ballots online for the first time this year.